This week we have really been concentrating on maths and having lots of fun with lots of different activities on offer. All of the children have participated in number and action songs such as ten in the bed, 5 jelly fish, sitting on a rock (often lots more than 5!). We have had numbers on display in all areas as well as shapes. There have been simple measuring activities using rulers, wriggly worms and interlocking cubes. The shop area has been popular with children counting out coins and matching numbers on the coins to prices on the play food. We have been practising counting objects in a variety of arrangements. The children counted out socks that they had pegged on a washing line and found the corresponding written number from a number line. Some children are even able to estimate how many objects are displayed and add or take away 2, 3 or 4 more. I think the highlight of the week has to be the cardboard tubes and ping pong ball activity, lots of hilarity when they bounced out of the bucket! The idea was to recognise and choose two different numbers and post that number of ping pong balls down separate tubes, then counting out the total number of balls collected in the bottom of the bucket and finding the corresponding written number. Fantastic for number recognition and maths language such as add, more, less, equals etc.